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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28259241">Green Gold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TundrainAfrica/pseuds/TundrainAfrica'>TundrainAfrica</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Female Hange Zoë, Married Hange Zoë/Levi, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:00:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,491</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28259241</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TundrainAfrica/pseuds/TundrainAfrica</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"The one Levi had picked out was of a minimalist design. The color in particular though was what stood out. At first glance, it looked like a typical gold or yellow. As Levi took a closer look from different angles under a light source, he couldn’t help but notice the way it glowed a bright green and was quick to fall back to a simple yellow. It did it too consistently though that Levi was sure it was not just a trick of the light."</p><p>Levi scrambles for a last minute Christmas present and Hange copes with being eight months pregnant.<br/>Same verse as "Rough Day," "Sugar Rush" and "Household Planning."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi/Hange Zoë</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>107</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Levihan Domestic Verse (Tundrainafrica)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Green Gold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I know it isn't Christmas yet but I decided to drop some Levihan Christmas Fluff a little early. I wish you all a happy holiday!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When a new jewelry shop opened in a space adjacent to his favorite tea shop in Paradis, Levi was quick to notice it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It never did catch his interest though. The hard life he had lived for roughly 40 years had him completely nonchalant at most significant developments. The opening of some ordinary jewelry shop was not at all a significant development that called any attention from the battle hardened soldier, even if it did attract a crowd for the first two months. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was until Mr. Spasky the tea shop owner brought it up over a round of tea tasting. Levi had seen him exchange a few words with the jewelry shop owner before he would welcome Levi into his shop.  He had guessed that they had become fast friends through the excitement of their tones and the detail they looked too comfortable giving each other. The friendship between those two was something he had brushed away too easily though. Levi was too preoccupied by a cranky pregnant Hange and his own household projects to consider much of anything else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One day, Mr. Spasky brought up one unfamiliar question which got Levi particularly confused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what kind of engagement ring did you buy your woman?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Engagement ring? Woman?" Levi frowned in confusion. “I have a woman?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the season of giving so maybe it would be a good time…” The shopkeeper winked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi’s thoughts were elsewhere. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Partner. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That was the word. By the expression and the tone on Mr. Spasky’s face, Levi could at least tell, they had the traditional woman in mind. Of course they would, they’ve never met Hange. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hange was definitely pregnant and had been glaringly pregnant for the past few months already. Was she being the traditional woman about it? Definitely not. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi only had to be reminded of why he even felt the need to correct Mr. Spasky when he got home from his quick trip to the tea shop that day to find Hange as usual, coping with her six month leave in a very unconventional manner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been two months since he had emailed that letter to the queen and requested for a leave for Hange. And with how Hange looked, hunched up on a microscope with a broken rock next to the table, Levi could tell that she was still far from the acceptance stage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In fact, she had been constantly scrambling for something to do since she had been put in a leave of absence in the first place. She was probably penultimate month of pregnancy according to the doctor and she was still fighting for control of her life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first week into the leave she would take long walks, long enough for Levi to feel the need to circle the perimeter of the block where their apartment was, only to end up pacing by the entrance of the house not wanting to relax until she got home. Even when she did arrive home, Levi found himself only getting more stressed by her little souvenirs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was like a cat</span>
  <em>
    <span>. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The big difference lay in the fact that while cats brought home dead rats and game, Hange would bring home different types of leaves, roots and other plant parts and leave them on the table next to the microscope she had set up on her desk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shouldn’t you be doing other things?” Levi had asked as he watched Hange set up the microscope in their room in the wee hours of morning, when he was about to sleep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What other things? I’m on </span>
  <em>
    <span>leave</span>
  </em>
  <span> right?” Hange had too much venom on the word leave that Levi had to look away and remind himself that it was Historia after all who made the final say. </span>
  <em>
    <span>So it’s her fault not mine. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He would reassure himself, conveniently forgetting the fact that he did draft the letter. He didn’t reply to Hange’s implicit accusation, instead deciding to hide under the covers of his bed and stay there unmoving, even when it did take him an extra three hours to fall asleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the second week, Levi could barely get a wink at night, too busy wondering what risk lay in a pregnant person studying such strange substances. Levi started to follow her surreptitiously as she went about the town, only to see that she had been getting them from a nearby public garden. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t strange at all to see Hange digging through plants, roots and flowers. She had expressed her passion for botany on top of titans too many times to count. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But she’s pregnant. And that’s unsanitary as fuck. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Hange being unsanitary as fuck wasn’t anything new though. Levi had known her long enough to accept it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The circumstances then were different. For a while, Levi considered telling her off. He found himself in a state of panic a second later though completely forgetting that intention, as he realized that it wasn’t just unsanitary. A few inches away, a dog decided to pee on that same soil which Hange was digging through. Somehow that view was what helped him put three and two together to get five. Hange was desperately studying whatever green and brown she could find. And it was mixing with dog shit, cat shit and whatever else made their home in that little bush.   </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi did not need to consult a doctor to know that it was potentially dangerous for a pregnant woman. He rushed back home, went to Hange’s desk and disposed of all the samples into a bag and threw it out into the dumpster before she could get home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time, Levi was grateful that Hange did go on such long walks. That gave Levi at least enough time to create a backstory for the sudden cleanliness of her desk and her missing samples. In a state of panic though and faced with the obstacle of limited time, Levi had come up with another idea, an idiotic one, completely unbelievable that it had little chance of working.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi was desperate though. Although he did have the reflexes on the battlefield to take down an enemy bent on killing him, scrambling to find a cover up story for a very pregnant and very unpredictable Hange Zoe was another story.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that rate though, Hange must have been as crazy, desperate and idiotic as him a result of the pregnancy hormones and the stress of being in almost total isolation in a smaller part of town with little to no responsilities. Hange came home to see rocks lined up, in the stead of her previous samples, and continued on her mini research as if nothing had changed.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were less alarming test subjects at least. Levi had made sure to wash them thoroughly beforehand. They did not stink as much as the plants. And they had at least caught Hange’s interest enough that she did not ask too much about the missing plant samples, having brushed off the white lie of a bird stealing them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Overtime, Levi eventually realized she never did believe the lie. She was too sharp for that. In fact, the reason she had accepted such a blatant lie in the first place was because the rocks on the table had turned out to be a more interesting subject. The hammers and nails became an ubiquitous part of her work desk. The meticulous side of Levi was also starting to begrudgingly notice the scratches on the table from the scrape of rock on wood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>From a coping mechanism of studying plants and greens, Hange had shifted to studying rocks. And as Levi started to realize over dinner, rocks were an incredibly boring topic, so boring that he almost missed hearing about photosynthesis and the difference of a xylem and a phloem. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Apparently, there were so many different types of rocks and the ones he had randomly picked out in the garden could have been igneous, hinting to the possibility of volcanic or seismic activity around the area. How she had gotten that from a bunch of random rocks, Levi did not know. She started talking about extracting metals from ores. And she had started to name the rocks too apparently: Gabbro, limestone, basalt. Hearing those names echo in his head, only made Levi miss the plants.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He started to particularly miss the plants a little more when the streets started to line with them, and the main square near their place was fitted with a large tree in the center, decorated with lights and bright balls. A surprising addition to his everyday view on the way to the tea shop. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Christmas. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He never really did get used to it. A tradition brought from Marley apparently. With Hange's new obsession with rocks, the large tree in the middle of the square seemed almost nostalgic. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So it looks like the Christmas tree can amaze even the most serious men," A voice said behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Christmas Tree was placed in the middle of the square where the tea shop was also conveniently located. And from his good view of the Christmas Tree in the middle, Levi was also a good few feet away from the shop. He only had to look behind him to see Mr. Spassky, having a smoke at the entrance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That thoughtless comment was enough to make Levi look away from the tree faster than he had wanted to. He entered the tea shop with a Mr. Spassky trailing behind and the tea had helped him cope. By that point, he had almost completely forgotten the Christmas Tree in the middle of the square. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like always, Mr. Spasky would place a cup of black tea and make conversation. “So what did you get her?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Hange who had pointed out years ago that his birthday was on the same day as Christmas day. For Levi, it was a surprise since he had built a habit through the years of never giving days enough importance to analyze them beyond what was available at face value. At that moment, when the shopkeeper noted that Christmas Eve was that night, Levi could only spit out the tea. It was his birthday. It was almost Christmas. And he had spent too much time and energy keeping Hange sane to have even noticed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mr. Spassky was a great salesman and a great marketer. Levi at that moment was at the mercy of his complex emotions constantly flitting from the guilt of disposing of Hange’s samples to his overall exhausted state to the state of panic which would stop by for a visit every few hours, when he would ask the question of  what Hange could be doing back home at that exact moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Levi had been any sharper that day, he probably would have figured it out as quickly as he had figured out the food campaigns of King Fritz years ago that Christmas was merely a seasonal marketing campaign to get people to buy more and that new tradition on giving engagement rings was a piece of all year long marketing tactic to keep the jewelry business alive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At his most vulnerable though, Levi had become prey to those propaganda and the nagging feelings of guilt, only spread through him, getting stronger with every point they made. He and Hange had been living together for more than a year, Hell she was pregnant with their first child already. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And I never bothered to get her an engagement ring or a Christmas present?</span>
  </em>
  <span>  For the first time since it opened, Levi was finally starting to see the value and novelty in that quaint jewelry shop next to the tea shop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Mr. Spassky guided him through the doors of the jewelry shop, Levi was quick to notice the different rings on display. What caught Levi’s eye in particular was the display case on the side of the room that sold shiny colored metals, similar to a cavern under a church Levi had visited so many years ago. On the walls were pictures and detailed drawings of couples exchanging rings, only highlighting the tradition Levi had noticed among other couples he had witnessed. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Is there really commitment if there’s no ring? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Is it really love if you don’t buy them anything for Christmas? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Every good romance starts with a ring. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Blatant propaganda. Yet strong and relevant enough for Levi to put enough thought into picking out a ring. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The one Levi had picked out was of a minimalist design. The color in particular though was what stood out. At first glance, it looked like a typical gold or yellow. As Levi took a closer look from different angles under a light source, he couldn’t help but notice the way it glowed a bright green and was quick to fall back to a simple yellow. It did it too consistently though that Levi was sure it was not just a trick of the light. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Green Gold. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That was what it was called according to the shopkeeper as he held it up to the late much better than what Levi had done. From the different angles, Levi could see the gleam of gold and the tinge of green. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi did not need the confirmation of the color to decide to buy it. Maybe it was the characteristic cloak they would wear from so many years ago which made it such an obvious choice. Maybe it was the homesickness that came and went from living and fighting in an almost all green landscape almost their whole lives then being forced to move somewhere within the city that had pushed him to that. Maybe it was a combination of all that, only supplemented by the nostalgia that came with missing Hange’s obsession with trees. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It probably was the fact that the color green had been so ubiquitous the past two decades of his life. Seeing it as a faint yet beautiful glow had awakened emotions of sentimentality for a life he had lived long before.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Levi took in the scenery of the urban jungle which they had been living in for the past few years and the stark contrast to the green they had been fighting in for many more years, maybe he did start to understand her obsession with green. In fact, he did realize with his own impulse purchase, he was a tad fixated with the color green too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gripped his small gift bag a little tighter as he arrived at the entrance of the apartment they shared. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hange, Merry Christmas.” Levi was completely comfortable with Hange and he was completely aware of that. Yet, for that moment he needed to rehearse it, having occupied himself with whether to say Merry Christmas before or after handing her the present. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hange returned the greeting with her own questioning look, which could have maybe even been judgmental. For some reason, that had made Levi blush. He looked away as soon as he gave it and went straight to the kitchen to cram the Christmas Eve dinner he had forgotten about. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He allowed himself a last look, only to see a smile creep up Hange’s lips as she opened the gift box. Levi found himself smiling in return, even if he knew she wouldn’t notice it with his back to her. It had been weeks since he had seen such excitement in those eyes as she smiled, that same excitement and enthusiasm he had seen as she recounted to him every development in Paradis. As he was cutting the tomatoes for their meal that night, he couldn’t help but think that that smile gave him the same sense of nostalgia as the color green.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe she felt it too? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“It looks like I was right… I knew they’d put titanium here. It shouldn’t be this hard if there wasn’t any.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi placed the newly cooked pasta on their dining table. Hange was on the living room table, with a lamp at full brightness, hunched over like she was working on something. Just like always, Hange was scratching the table below with a new stone </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A shiny new stone…. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Is that the gift I bought you?” Levi asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There must have been a hint of accusation or anger in Levi’s voice. The face Hange had was reminiscent  to what one would see when a dog is caught chewing on something they aren’t supposed to. With the realization that what they had done is wrong, most dogs would usually chew faster. Hange had done the human equivalent, or more specifically, the pregnant Hange equivalent of breaking into it faster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a ring Hange. You’re supposed to be wearing it!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But is it really important that I wear it? Isn’t it more important that we find out the secrets of how they make this?” It was an argument which could have convinced any other scientist. Levi was far from what could have been a good target audience.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give me that!” Levi found himself wrestling or at least trying to wrestle someone while avoiding the baby bump which was taking up more than 50% of her waistline at that moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s your gift to </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>Levi! </span>
  <em>
    <span>To me! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Let me use it like I want to!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hange made a good point. That good point and the prospect of wrestling someone who was eight months pregnant with his first child was what got Levi surrendering and just sitting on the sofa within minutes just listening to one of her lectures.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hange once again scratched the sharp side of the already broken ring on the table then bit it, inadvertently causing Levi more pain for multiple reasons. “See, gold wouldn’t make a scratch like this. This is why it isn’t necessarily pure gold despite what’s written here,” Hange explained as she slid the flier closer to him. “ I’m guessing they used titanium here, similar to the metal they used for our blades and the ODM gear. Maybe even copper or iron?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So it was a fake,” Levi said bitterly. It was the mention of such cheap metals making its way into such a beautiful object with such a unique shine to it. He felt like an idiot for actually believing it was something pure.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is actually a good thing because if they did make something out of pure gold, it would scratch pretty fast. In fact, the other metals make it so that it lasts longer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was supposed to be a Christmas Gift,” Levi said, completely ignoring Hange’s explanation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was a great Christmas gift. I’ve never seen this shade of gold in my life.” Hange said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it was supposed to be an engagement gift too.” Levi managed to add before the blood rushed through his face, leaving him unable to speak for a few seconds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Engagement?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Spassky said that most people give a ring to someone when they want to spend the rest of their lives with them.” Levi did not know how he had managed to get that out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’re falling for that propaganda now? Levi, we’ve been living together for the past two years. We’ve done things. I’m pregnant with our first kid. We don’t need a piece of metal to prove anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that moment, Levi remembered his own mother who had raised him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She’s done things. She was pregnant with someone’s kid. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yet he had never met his father. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then what do we have to prove it? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Levi didn’t need to ask her. He felt it in how quickly the exasperation of a minute ago gradually morphed into a playful feeling that tickled his chest and the sudden urge to grab her from behind and feel her tummy. He felt it a second later as she put her hands on his and gripped his hands a little tighter. Just the way he had wanted it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hange lay back down on the sofa next to him and gave him one of the softest smiles. She started to yawn and lay her head on his. She had fallen asleep next to him multiple times before. At that moment, he appreciated it a little more. As battle hardened soldiers, they would have only ever fallen asleep next to someone they completely trusted. Then and there, pregnant and tired, Hange was at her most vulnerable. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then what do we have to prove it? </span>
  </em>
  <span>The fact that they knew each other inside and out. The commitment to make it work. Their trust in the other to do the same. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that moment, they were both at their most vulnerable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now that I think about it... I haven’t been able to buy you a birthday christmas present,” Hange said, her voice only getting softer as she buried her face into his shoulder. “Maybe if you let me go shopping downtown I would.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what would be the best Christmas birthday gift? You not accidentally killing our kid.”  </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'd love to hear what you think.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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